Petition to dump oil shares goes beyond UVic borders

Movement targets university’s endowment fund, a $430M pool of donated money

A petition asking UVic to dump fossil-fuel shares from its endowment fund is leaving the campus and seeking signatures from the wider public.

“We are going to the general public, a.k.a. ‘the taxpayers,’ and giving them an opportunity to weigh in on the issue,” said James Rowe, associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Victoria.

The petition, which has garnered about 1,100 signatures since it was launched last week, takes aim at the university’s endowment fund, a $430-million pool of donated money that gets invested.

Interest and profits are used to fund things such as scholarships and bursaries, about $15 million worth each year.

About $20 million of the endowment fund is now invested in the shares of fossil-fuel companies.

Rowe, creator of the petition campaign and a member of a group calling itself UVic Faculty for Divestment, said the burning of fossil fuels is the biggest contributor to climate change and investment in companies that produce them should be discouraged.

“There is nothing inherently wrong with having extracted and sold fossil fuels,” he said, calling them “integral to our modern industrial society.”

“But it just so happens they are now imperilling our modern industrial society.”

Rowe said UVic is publicly committed to sustainability and responsible care for the environment — principles he said conflict with investing in an industry linked with climate change and also alleged to have spread disinformation about the seriousness of the issue.

“We are participating in what we see as hypocrisy,” he said.

Andrew Coward, treasurer of the University of Victoria Foundation, which oversees the endowment fund, defended the foundation’s approach to investing.

Coward said in an interview that the foundation’s investments are informed by policy calling for responsible corporate behaviour, including things such as positive social and environmental behaviour.

As a result, energy companies are scrutinized with regard to things such as how they manage their carbon footprint, conserve water and treat employees.

Coward said a separate endowment fund pledging to avoid investments in fossil fuels was started last year. Donors can freely opt to pledge support for that fund.

He said the principal reason for the foundation’s continuing investment in energy is financial responsibility.

Divesting of energy stocks would expose the endowment fund to an uncertainty the directors are unwilling to endure, he said.

Coward said the foundation seeks to invest at least 25 per cent of its money inside Canada, where 20 to 25 per cent of the investment market is energy stocks.

The board has asked its investment managers whether divesting of energy stocks would have a serious financial impact, he said.

“The answers we got back, clearly from our managers was: ‘Yeah, if you exclude 20 per cent of the market you should expect more volatile returns.’ ”

This is the third time such a signature drive has been launched.

A similar petition in 2015 focused on students, while one in 2014 focused on faculty.